An Eternal Night To Remember

Chapter 1

You know how if you travel to another country, or even another province in some cases, you’ll experience a phenomenon known as culture shock. This is when you find yourself in a place that is so different than what you’re used to that you freak out. It may not be a total freak out, just a mild case, where everything is so completely overwhelming that your mind draws a blank. Or you may go a tad insane and not be able to process what’s going on. It goes without saying that if you go to sleep in your own, familiar, comfy bed, and wake up in a different country that your case of culture shock will be in the tad insane range. Now imagine waking up in a completely different world full of talking ponies.

It was eight years ago, and I thought that I was just tripping balls at the time. I mean, come on, I was seeing pink castles and frolicking, pastel ponies. My brain didn’t quite process this, so I just stared for a good ten minutes, if I recall correctly. I tried hitting myself, which just resulted in a stinging cheek. It wasn’t a dream, and I was only ten and didn’t have access to illicit substances besides whiskey from my father’s stash, which I only drank once. Stuff burned like hell. So I did the only logical thing, I curled up into a ball and started crying like a baby. I told myself that it was all just a dream and that it would go away soon, but lo and behold, those damned ponies were still there.

After my episode I sat there for a while, on that hilltop overlooking little-girl-television-land, contemplating how I got there, before I was found by a pony. Well, found isn’t the right word. She tried capturing me with a butterfly net and ran away screaming when I shouted and tore it off of me. I later learned that her name was Minty, and she later became my best friend. Now I don’t want to spoil my interesting tale of arrival, I’ll save that for another time, when I have the capacity to care and stop procrastinating on this journal that the Archmage of Unicornia wants me to finish writing. So don’t worry your pretty little heads, Council of Mages, you’ll get this journal, just not on time. Don’t expect it to have any detail, either, as it’ll be a rush job, just like everything else I do.

I dropped the goose feather quill that I was using to write and stared down at the pages of the journal the unicorns had given me. I’d written three paragraphs so far, and they expected me to write my entire life story and fill the damn thing up. I’d already told them all the stuff that I remembered about my homeland when I arrived, but they wanted me to document it for them. Why didn’t they have a scribe when I spoke with them the first time? They may be great scholars, practitioners of magic, and have the ability to control the sun, but they can never use common sense when the time calls for it. An example would be the journal they gave me. It had over one thousand pages, and they honestly expected me to fill every single page in it. Those were their exact words, too.

“We want to know everything about human society and culture, as well as your life story. We expect you to fill in every page. Do not, and I repeat, do not slack on this! We want this in our collection before the Summer Sun Celebration,” I said, repeating the Archmage’s phrase in a mocking tone, moving my hand to match the words.

I closed the journal and sighed, staring down at it. It was made of some variant of papyrus, like most paper, and was bound with red leather. I think it was leather, anyway. It was quite a thing of beauty, and you could tell that whoever made it put a great deal of work into it.

I threw it in the garbage can in the corner of my room.

Ah, my room! My fortress of solitude! It was the wall between my sanity and the colorful world of Equestria, and what a great wall it was. Located deep under the castle in Ponyville, it was situated in a far-off back room, in the same section as their library, which housed thousands of shelves and annals detailing history, science, philosophy, and every subject known to ponydom. The library was seldom visited, as it didn’t have anything related to parties or pink anything, which seemed to be the only thing of interest to most ponies. The only visitors were Kimono, a scholar whose knowledge rivaled that of the Mages, and Minty, who only ever came to drag me out and take me on some wild adventure that usually ended up with us nearly dying. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Minty and her adventures, they just happened so frequently that I grow tired of them now and again. I face a life-threatening danger nearly every week, and the stress starts to get to me after a while.

I stood up from the chair and stretched, reaching my arms above my head, hearing a series of pops and cracks from my back, the nitrogen bubbles leaving my joints. I stretched out my legs, too, jogging in place a bit to get the stiffness out. The clock above my bed said 7:30, and I had to meet up with Minty to prep our balloon for the trip to the Summer Sun Celebration. I was excited about seeing the Celebration, as I’d never been present in Unicornia during it. I wasn’t so excited about setting foot in that death trap with Minty, who always wanted to fly it. No matter how many times she crashes us she’ll always be the one to operate it. I know how to, but Minty always overpowered me if I tried to help or volunteered, even going so far as to tie me up in the basket. She may be insane, annoying, and lack any form of common sense, but she was my best friend, and I’d be damned if I let her go on some potentially dangerous journey without me.

I exited my room, closing the old oaken door behind me, and walked down the long, narrow hallway that led to the main storage rooms of the library. They contained boxes of quills, ink, paper, and other various material and instruments that are used to repair and write books. A worktable sat in the corner, a dissected book on top, with its binding undone and the pages scattered about. It was one of the books that Kimono had asked me to repair, and I’d do anything for Kimono, who took on the role of a big sister when I first wound up here. She and I ran the library, keeping the place clean and organized, and fixing books that need it. No other pony would help, seeing as how none of them cared for literature. Rainbow Dash had tried to help once, but she ended up painting the place pink and rearranging the books the wrong way. She also says “Darling” in nearly every sentence. I can’t stand her, but I always try and act civil, mostly to not make Kimono angry.

I finally left the storage areas and entered the Library Proper, the Sanctum Sanctorum of knowledge in Ponyville. The room was well lit with large, stained glass windows on both sides, the sunlight filtering through and illuminating the vast bookshelves that lined the walls and all the ones in between with multicolored lights. The familiar smell of paper and mahogany hit my nostrils, filling me with a sense of comfort. I spent a great deal of my time here, reading the works of great playwrights and poets, as well as history and the geography of the Known World.

My bare feet made soft padding noises as I walked on the stone floors, the sedimentary blocks that made it up having been smoothed away after years of continuous contact with sets of hooves. Mostly Kimono’s hooves.

The walk to the door to the rest of the castle took very little time, despite the library’s immense size. As I neared the double-door that separated me from a world of jabbering equines, I paused and pulled the hood of my jacket over my head. The jacket was white with royal purple on the edges and a design of a cherry tree in full blossom on the back. I wore it everywhere, mostly because it was comfortable, and also because I’m pasty as hell and will burn if I’m in the sun for more than ten minutes. I learned this the hard way when I spent all day working in the flower gardens with Petaljoy without wearing a shirt. It was during my first year here, too. I was out of commission for the entire summer, peeling sheets of my skin off of myself like rice paper. Petaljoy felt so bad that she had made me this jacket so I wouldn’t get burned when I went outside. She had it adjusted for size every six months since then.

I braced myself and pushed the doors open, revealing one of the castle hallways in its entire pink, brightly lit splendor. There were ponies bustling back and forth, getting everything ready for the Celebration. Most were hanging streamers and balloons from the ceiling and along the walls, sticking them to the stone with pieces of tape. Other ponies shuttled supplies to and fro, handing objects to others or trying to get to their destination quickly. I greeted several as they passed by, some registered my existence but most ignored me, too enamored in their current tasks. I walked quickly through the castle, hoping to get out as soon as possible before that scaly bastard showed up.

“Salutations, fellow biped! How are you on this fine evening?”

Oh god why.

I turned towards the direction of the voice and came face to face with one of the most annoying creatures of all time, Spike the dragon. He was about three feet tall, covered in blue scales with an orange underbelly, orange fin-things on the side of his head, and a tuft of purple hair sticking out from the crown of his noggin. He says he’s a dragon, all the ponies say he’s a dragon, but I’m not so sure. I’ve never seen him breath fire, and he hasn’t ever grown the entire time I’ve lived here. He showed up about five years ago, giving Wysteria a flower and then claiming that, because she had touched the flower, she was now a princess.

And they believed him.

I tried to explain why this wasn’t logical, but all the ponies were excited that they had a princess. I didn’t want to deal with that crap, so I up and left and stayed with the Breezies for a week. When I came back I learned that all the ponies had lived in terror under Wysteria’s Iron Hoof, until she decided to make everyone in the town a princess. Luckily, I wasn’t in town at the time, so I didn’t become one. I’m the only non-princess in town, and I’m just fine with that.

“I’m fine, Spike,” I said, trying not to throw the little bugger out the window. “I was just going to help Minty and the others with preparing the balloon for the flight to Unicornia.”

“That sounds absolutely wonderful! I wish that I could go, but alas, I can’t, as I have to hold down the fort here and help the ponies with the festivities. One day I will travel and see the beauty that is the High Castle of Unicornia, but it is not this year,” Spike said, sounding despondent.

“You do know that you could just pack some supplies and walk there, right? It’s only a week’s trip away.”

Spike took a step back and scoffed, sounding offended. “Walk? All that way? Nonsense! That is for commoners. I should arrive there in style, in a balloon or a palanquin, that sort of thing. Only a commoner would walk all that way!”

That’s another reason why I hate Spike. He views himself as being a member of some noble dragon family, and believes he shouldn’t have to do any real work. He spends most of his time loafing in the castle, drinking tea and ordering ponies around. He may be good at organizing, but he has never done a hard day’s work in his entire life. And even though he acts all high and mighty and pretends that he’s a paragon of knowledge, he has never once visited the library. Hypocrite.

“I see your point. Well, it was nice talking to you, but I have to go or I’ll be late. See you around, Spike.”

“Very well. I’ll see you once you get back, and you can regale me with your tales of the majesty and grandeur that is Unicornia. I bid you, adieu.” With that he bowed and walked down the hallway, bossing ponies around as he went.

With that out of the way I hurriedly walked through the halls, not wanting to be late. One thing that I learned was to never be late for a meeting with Minty. She would find you and lecture you for an hour on the value of being on time and the importance of socks to the local economy. Yeah, Minty has a sock fetish, and will find some way of bringing socks into the conversation, whether it is potion making or politics. Peppermint and socks seemed to be the only things on her mind.

I found one of the side doors and quickly hurried out, moving swiftly down a curved dirt path that led to the balloon field. The path cut through a green field and was lined with peonies and rhododendron bushes. Ponyville always smelled sweet, whether it was from the flowers that grew all over the place or the scent of baked goods coming from Sugarcube Corner. It wasn’t a bad place to live in; it just wore on my nerves about every other week.

The balloon field was a flat patch of grass with a raised stone platform in the middle, where the balloons were kept. The balloons of Ponyville were an array of shapes, sizes, and colors, ranging from gigantic and covered in intricate designs to small and of a single color, like Minty’s green one. The baskets were kept under an awning and the balloons themselves were stored in large chests in a chamber under the platform.

I could see that Minty had already retrieved the balloon, as it was lying on the grass beside the platform, the corresponding basket and instruments on top of said platform. I could see her mint-green body moving carefully along the surface, checking for any rips or tears. Her back was turned and she hadn’t seen me yet, so I quietly tiptoed up behind her, careful not to make any noise. Once I was behind her I took a deep breath and bellowed:

“HEY MINTY!”

She let out a scream and shot five feet in the air, frantically trying to turn around and see who shouted. As soon as she saw me she narrowed her eyes and blew a strand of her mane out of her face.

“You scared me,” she said, pointing an accusatory hoof in my direction.

“Yes, yes I did.” I stared straight at her, not blinking.

We burst out laughing, falling down and holding our sides. We constantly did things like this to each other, pulling pranks and other entertaining things. Though Minty and I looked and acted differently, we had many things in common with each other.

“I’ll go make sure the thaumatic engine and all the parts are working. Have you found any tears yet?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nope, everything is fine, so far. I just hope we don’t have to do any rush repairs halfway to Unicornia.”

“All right,” I said, “I’ll get to work.”

The thaumatic engine was an invention designed by an earth pony and a unicorn working together. It utilizes a magestone, a type of mineral that naturally absorbs sunlight or moonlight, depending on when it’s charged. The energy from the light source is filtered and concentrated through runic cyphers, which in turn creates pure magic that can be used for various purposes. Most non-unicorns had a runic cypher of some sort, usually a bracelet that they could use to pick up objects with their hooves. The cyphers used energy to create magic, but it could normally only create very little without a magestone. The cyphers ponies wore used the energy created by contracting muscles in their forelegs, turning it into a very watered down levitation spell that only worked through physical contact. I had one made out of bronze, but since I had magical appendages called hands, I didn’t use it much.

I hooked up a gauge to the magestone, measuring the current power stored in it. There was more than enough to get the balloon to Unicornia, but it would have to be charged when we got there. I then set to checking the cyphers, which were placed on flat, metal disks. I spun each one, making sure that they converted the measly kinetic energy into magic. Next, I checked the wires that led from the cyphers to the heating plate. I poured just a bit of magic from my cypher into the plate, satisfied when it started to heat up. I then checked the integrity of the basket, rocking it slightly and going over both the inside and outside. All in all, I finished the preflight prep in about half an hour.

I jumped out of the basket and headed over to Minty, who had just finished looking over the balloon. “You said that another pony was coming with us. Who is it?”

“Pinkie Pie. She really wanted to come to the festival this year. Is Kimono coming?” Minty asked.

“Yeah, she said that she wanted to make sure we didn’t get killed during our flight. I can’t blame her, either, we always seem to get into some sort of trouble whenever we’re in this thing,” I replied.

“That may be, but we’ve never once gotten any serious injuries. She doesn’t always have to be a worry wart. Have you packed yet?”

I face-palmed. “No, I haven’t. I’ll see you in a bit. Later!”

I turned and rushed back up the path towards the castle, wanting to get there before we had to inflate the balloon. My procrastination always came back to bite me in the butt, and it always, always, hurts like hell. As it did in this case with me stepping on a sharp rock.

“Dammit,” I yelled as I stopped and nursed the bottom of my foot.

“Did you step on a rock again? You really should wear those shoes I made you, Daniel,” a voice from behind me said.

I turned around to find Kimono standing there, a pair of stuffed saddlebags on her back. She had light purple fur with a dark purple mane and two flower pots as a cutiemark. I could see a long, slender package balanced on her back along with a similarly long piece of wood.

“You brought my bow and a quiver of arrows along?”

“I also packed your clothes and some spending money. And after your incident with the sea serpent last month I don’t feel comfortable with you going someplace with Minty without a weapon of some kind.”

I stood up and pulled some of the bags off her, placing the quiver over my back with its strap and placing the bow in it, as well. “Thanks, Kimono,” I said, giving her a quick hug. She hugged me back and we started down the path to the balloon field.

When we arrived Pinkie was there, as well, and was helping Minty with attaching the limp balloon to the basket. Kimono and I finished tying it for them and put our supplies in the basket. I turned on the thaumatic engine and began to fill the balloon, shooting the shit with Pinkie, who I hadn’t seen for a week.

“What’ve you been doing lately, Pinkie?” I asked.

“I’ve been helping design the decorations for the castle and bake the sweets. I haven’t had much time to do anything else, and I’ve been cooped up in the castle. I really needed to get out, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity,” she replied.

“I haven’t been doing too much, just reading and the like. How is your crush on Big Mac going? Had any luck with him yet?”

She blushed just a bit. “I have, actually. Once I get back from Unicornia we’re going to go on a lunch date. I hope everything works out.”

Big Mac was the local apple farmer and stud muffin. Half the mares in town swooned whenever his name was mentioned, and he constantly received propositions, but turned most of them down. He was one of the few stallions in town, due to it being an earth pony village, as most earth ponies gave birth to mares. That was a curious thing about pony genetics. The unicorns had a stallion majority, while the pegasi had a small, but equal population of both. Due to interbreeding between the three tribes in recent years the populations were becoming more stable, but there were still a few prudes who wanted only those of the same tribe to breed with each other.

That was another thing. Due to there being so few males in the town, there was constant competition for them, myself included. The problem was that I wasn’t really attracted to any of the mares. There have been a few ponies where I could honestly say that I would sleep with. I have actually slept with one, but she lives in Pegasopolis and turned out to be a stalker. Most mares in the village have taken the hint and haven’t tried to hit on me, but some would still jostle for my affection. I honestly think that these mares need to just go to Unicornia and bring back a male, who would probably be all too happy to come to a village filled with females.

After twenty minutes the balloon started to float, so we all piled into the basket and let Minty, despite our better judgment, take the controls. After another ten minutes the balloon was full and we cut the ropes tying us to the ground. I turned back to Ponyville as we drifted away, the setting sun behind it, bathing the town in a twilight glow. You cloud see everything up here. From Ponyville Castle to the flower gardens in the south, to Sugarcube Corner in the east, and the Forest of the Breezies in the north. Ponyville may not be perfect, but it was my home, and I always feel a twinge of sadness whenever I leave it.

I returned my gaze to the western fields of grass and trees that separated our little travelling group from Unicornia. They went on for several miles, giving way to hills and moorland, before finally changing into the farms and agricultural communities that separated Unicornia from the rest of Equestria. I was already feeling that thrill, the tingle in my heart that told me to go out and explore the world, the feeling of adventure and wanderlust that caused me to risk my life with Minty. Yes, this was going to be one hell of a journey, I could feel it in my bones.